Page 668 - the-three-musketeers

head, where a fish cannot leap out of the water, where a rab-
bit cannot come out of its burrow, and I believe that bird,
fish, and rabbit each becomes a spy of the cardinal. Better,
then, pursue our enterprise; from which, besides, we can-
not retreat without shame. We have made a wager—a wager
which could not have been foreseen, and of which I defy
anyone to divine the true cause. We are going, in order to
win it, to remain an hour in the bastion. Either we shall be
attacked, or not. If we are not, we shall have all the time to
talk, and nobody will hear us—for I guarantee the walls of
the bastion have no ears; if we are, we will talk of our affairs
just the same. Moreover, in defending ourselves, we shall
cover ourselves with glory. You see that everything is to our
advantage.’
‘Yes,’ said d’Artagnan; ‘but we shall indubitably attract
a ball.’
‘Well, my dear,’ replied Athos, ‘you know well that the
balls most to be dreaded are not from the enemy.’
‘But for such an expedition we surely ought to have
brought our muskets.’
‘You are stupid, friend Porthos. Why should we load our-
selves with a useless burden?’
‘I don’t find a good musket, twelve cartridges, and a pow-
der flask very useless in the face of an enemy.’
‘Well,’ replied Athos, ‘have you not heard what
d’Artagnan said?’
‘What did he say?’ demanded Porthos.
‘d’Artagnan said that in the attack of last night eight or
ten Frenchmen were killed, and as many Rochellais.’

668 The Three Musketeers